Twisted
by RogueBHS
Summary: The long awaited sequel to Drowning, with some new characters and more X-men fun! :) Especially more ROMY-ness...
1. New Beginnings

"Twisted"  
Author Notes,  
&  
Chapter 1, "New Beginnings"  
By: RogueBHS 

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A/N: HELLO! This story, as it must be noted, is a sequel to my first evo story, Drowning which recieved a lot of good reviews. I thanked them in the final chapter of Drowning, but I have to thank those that reviewed on Drowning yet again. I can only hope that you find this story as good as the last. Now, my little "tid bit" story as I'm calling it, the Christmas Special for Drowning, takes place inbetween Drowning and this story. So you might possibly need to read those to understand a little bit of the interactions going on. This kicks off around May, which would place it at 5 months after the Christmas special on a timeline. That shouldn't be too awfully confusing. I hope. LOL.

ALSO, I do include a few characters from the comics (you'll find out who as they're introduced) and I'm TRYING to keep them close to their comic-counterparts. If you happen to be an "expert" on one of the characters and think I need to change how I write them, then PLEASE let me know. I need the critique, as I know my characterization is a bit off on some. Speaking of the comics, I'm afraid I turn Rogue into a more "comic" version. SORRY! Alright, enough of me blabbing, you want to read don't you?! Hehe...why else would you have clicked on the link? ;) 

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The sound of laughter carried across the waters of the pool, arousing the curiousity of the person sitting there, casually lounging and reading a book, soaking up the rays of the midday sun. The book was lowered, and the face lifted, watching the two who were playing around on the other side of the olympic-sized pool. The red-head let out a sequeal of laughter when the brunette boy caught up with her, lifting her into the air and twirling her around before gently letting her feet touch the solid ground again.

Unlike it might have in the past, the display of affection didn't bother the one who had been reading, but then, that probably had something to do with the handsome guy heading her way. Lowering her sunglasses to admire the fine build of her Cajun boyfriend, the green eyes of the young woman known only as Rogue sparkled in the sunlight, reflecting her own good humor. Letting her unpainted lips curve into a smile, Rogue twisted on the lounge chair and let Gambit get a good look at her in the black and green long-sleeved one-piece swimsuit.

It might have been her imagination working overtime, but Rogue could almost swear she could feel his red-on-black eyes watching every little move she made. Finally moving into a full, sitting-up position, Rogue tilted her head, noticing he wasn't in his own swimwear. If anything, she mused, he looked ready for a ride on his motorcycle.

"Ya know, sugah, it's a little hot t' be wearin' jeans ain't it?"

The cajun shrugged in his lazy way, grinning. "Dat your way o' tellin' me dat ya t'ink I be hot, chere?"

Rogue laughed. "Don' flattah yo'self Swamp Rat. Ya know perfectly well what Ah meant."

Gambit nodded, still grinning. "Oui. I did at dat, but had t' see if I could get ya t' admit ya t'ink I'm hot." He winked, just to tease her, as he loved to do. "But t' answer de real question, no, it ain't too hot for jeans. Grow up in de South and you be bound t' learn t' cope wit de heat jus' fine. You aughta know dat one, Roguey."

Rogue nodded as well. "An' mah way o' copin' happens t' be takin' a swim when Ah get too hot." She eyed his attire again. "Seems you got another idea in mind though."

Gambit nodded. "Not'ing more refreshin' dan de wind in your face, chere. You wanna come wit me?"

Rogue raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think Ah'm gonna abandon th' pool jus' t' go ridin' around with a Swamp Rat lahke you?"

Gambit shrugged, then stepped towards her. "I was t'inking we'd make a day of it...jus' you an' me. Take de bike out for a ride, den jus' do whatever we feel like doin. Mebbe even eat out or somet'ing..." He left the last bit hanging, knowing that she loved getting away from the mansion as much, maybe even a little more than he did. He also knew she'd jump at the chance to spend time with him, since there had been so little spare time lately.

Before Rogue had a chance to answer, a young brunette came running out of the mansion, and skidded to a halt in front of Rogue and Gambit. She paused, trying to catch her breath, thankful that neither Southerner bombarded her with questions immeadiately. Once she was breathing normally again, she looked up, noticing that Gambit was watching her with amusement.

Slightly annoyed by the youger brunette's staring at her boyfriend, Rogue put a hand on her hip and pushed her more goth mannerisms into play. "Somethin' important ya came out heah t' tell us Kitty, or did ya come t' stare at Remy?"

There was just enough warning to the tone to snap Kitty out of her daze. Smiling brightly at Rogue, she nodded. "Yeah. Professor Xavier wants us to all, like, meet him downstairs. Something about some new mutants popping up all of a sudden or something." She shrugged. "But like, yeah...he sent me to get you guys." Seeing Jean and Scott on the other side of the Olympic-sized pool, Kitty waved to them, and Jean nodded, having just been told the message by Xavier himself.

Seeing her duty was complete, she smiled at Rogue again. "So, are you coming or what?"

Rogue nodded, then glanced down at her attire. "Yeah, jus' tell th' Professah Ah'll be down raght aftah Ah get some jeans and gloves on. K?"

Gambit pouted and put a hand on Rogue's back, leaning in to her a bit. "Aww, come on chere. Don' tell me ya gonna cover up."

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Ya know Ah've gotta, Remy. Everyone else'll be in shorts an' stuff, so Ah'm th' one that has to covah up. Its not that big a deal...Ah've been doin' it for a couple o' years now."

Rogue left Gambit no time to complain further, and strode off towards the house. Behind her, the Cajun shook his head. Her always covering up was something he didn't understand, no matter how hard he tried. The others knew all about her powers, and did their best to be careful with her if she wasn't covered fully. Granted, some times they could be almost too careful, going to the point of standing a foot or so away when she was wearing a t-shirt and shorts just to be sure that no contact was made. But then, he supposed, men just weren't meant to fully understand women.

Upstairs, Rogue was pulling on a pair of blue jeans that, thankfully, had the knees blown out. It wasn't much, but considering how often she had to cover up in the summer time, despite the heat, Rogue was thankful for any extra cooling she could get. Grabbing a pair of thinner black gloves off her dresser, Rogue paused to look in the mirror for a second.

It was a little over a year ago when she and the other X-men had been found out as mutants, and had been judged as "freaks" by the human population of Bayville. Thankfully, they hadn't been kicked out of the school, but the other students were constantly picking on the known mutants at the school. The X-men aside, there was also the Brotherhood who attended BHS (Bayville High School).

Oh, there were other groups of mutants around, to be sure, but they weren't known at all to the human public. There was Magneto with his Acolytes, and the Morlocks who dwelled under the streets of the city, not to mention thousands of others scattered around the world.

Mutants had been a well kept secret for so long, but no longer. And of course, pure curiousity had driven a certain group of humans into capturing Rogue, Evan Daniels, Hank McCoy, Logan and Fred to find out what made mutants what they were. Medical testing had been done, and the results of the testing done on Rogue had left her with a split personality and new powers to explore. But those tests had also proved Rogue, physically (but not emotionally), capable of murder.

Her born gift was the ability to absorb the pesonality, powers and, quite basically, entire psychic being of a person; an ability which had more than once proven to be a test to Rogue's mental strength. Now, however, Rogue also had the powers of young government agent who had been known as Ms Marvel aka Carol Danvers. The powers gained included the ability to fly unaided, even into space, super strength that was unequaled by any current member of the X-men, and nigh- invunerabilty. The latter allowed her to breath in space, have a high tolerence for most poisons, and a nearly unbeatable ability to "bounce back" from physical attacks.

But perhaps the most elusive of her new powers was the "seventh sense" of danger. It rarely made an appearance, as her nigh-invunerability could take care of most things, but it had saved her from being impalled on Wolverine's claws in the danger room once. Because of all of this that had been going on, as well as the appearance of her Cajun boyfriend, Rogue had changed greatly in the past year.

She had gone from a Goth girl, with a "back off" personality to a "normal" young woman with a personality that had earned her the new nicknames "Mississippi Marauder(1)" and "Southern Spitfire(1)" Along with that, Rogue had hit a growing spert, causing her to grow another few inches and fill out more as well. But there was one thing Rogue had refused to let change, and that was her hair. For the most part, her hair was a pretty auburn brown, but then there's her white bangs. Not dyed like some might think, but natural, pure white bangs. Because it would just look too "funky" longer, Rogue had kept her hair in between chin and shoulder length for as long as she could remember, and would continue to do so.

In the elevator that led to the lower floors, Rogue mused about how the humans had a split opinion of mutants, all because of the X-men. After the teen X-men had tricked Juggernaut, a powerful mutant, and beaten him, humans mostly respected the work the team did, but still feared all other mutants. But then, it'd probably always be that way. Stepping into the corridor of the level which housed the room that had been dubbed "The War Room" by Iceman, Rogue headed for that very room. The doors slid open in front of her, admitting her to the war room where her teammates were already seated.

Flashing an appolgetic smile at Professor Xavier for her tardiness, Rogue slipped into the seat in between Remy and Kitty, then leaned back as the Professor began talking.

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A little over an hour later, Kitty and Rogue were walking down the hall, both of them with a towel in hand as they headed for the outdoor pool to finally get their swim in. Glancing at Rogue, Kitty smiled. "So, like, what do you think its gonna be like having a British chick in the house?"

Rogue shrugged lightly as she pushed the door open and stepped outside. "Ah dunno. But judgin' from th' way Scott was starin' at her photograph, Jean's gonna have t' fight for his attention for a change."

Kitty looked at Rogue in surprise. "Get out! Scott was staring at that girl's photo? Dang... and both of them are telepathic and telekenetic. Yikes. Watch out!"

Rogue and Kitty both laughed, stopping at the chairs to drop their towels and shed pants. Kitty cannonballed into the pool, sending up a spray of water that showered down over the edges of the huge pool. Shaking her head, Rogue dove in cleanly, then surfaced to push her bangs out of her face.

From the side of the pool, three of the others watched as they too got ready to jump in. Jean rolled her eyes, then sat on the edge, dipping her legs in as she watched Scott adjust his goggles before diving in as well. The third X-man who had joined them outside was an older woman who was more goddess than woman in the eyes of some. Ororo Munroe had the ability to control the weather and its forces, a power which had earned her the names "Wind Rider" and "Weather Witch," as well as her X-men codename Storm.

Ororo was stretched out on one of the lounge chairs, simply watching over the students as she let herself get a bit more tanned. When a forth figure walked up, Storm smiled at him, then motioned to the chair next to her, and the man took a seat, idly looking back and forth between the students and Ororo. When he said nothing, Ororo kept her silence as well, simply enjoying being outside.

Finally, the man stood, looking at the kids in the pool for a moment before he walked off towards the mansion, pulling a cigar of out his shirt pocket. From her seat, Ororo shook her head, mildly amused at the way Logan had gotten up and left before Rogue noticed him. Ever since the captured X-men had escaped, Logan had been keeping an eye on Rogue, despite her new powers. He basically refused to admit that she could take care of herself for the most part, and the other adults of the mansion thought it was very sweet...not they'd say that to Logan of course. 

In the pool, Rogue splashed Scott, laughing when the wave her strength caused forced Scott to catch his breath and go underwater. Despite having a boyfriend of her own, Scott would always be one of the other X-men she was closest to. He had been the first to befriend her, and despite her original alliance to the brotherhood, he had never given up on her. Granted, Jean and Rogue got along reasonably well, especially since the most recent Christmas, but that didn't change that there was an underlying current of dislike between them.

From her spot on the side of the pool, Jean watched Scott and Rogue play in the water, splashing and laughing until finally Scott swam towards Rogue with a "menacing" grin. Rogue laughed, then squealed when he reached out to grab her arm. In order to get away, Rogue used her power of flight to raise out of the water, just out of Scott's reach. Still laughing softly, Rogue lowered herself onto the side of the pool and made a face at Scott, sticking her tongue out at him before she walked over and grabbed her towel to dry off.

She jumped when a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, then sighed in relief when Remy spoke. "Now chere, don' tell me you be flirtin' wit' anot'er man. Dat kinda t'ing make Remy very jealous, ya know..."

Rogue smiled and pulled away from him, the turned to face him. "So what if Ah am? You flirt with othah girls all th' time, sugah."

Gambit pouted, then pulled Rogue back to him and slid his arms back around her waist. "Dat be true, Roguey, but ya know dis Cajun only love you." 

His expression was so sincere when he said it that Rogue's playful mood just melted, and she smiled sweetly at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Is that so?"

Remy nodded, then gave her a squeeze. "'Course it's true."

Rogue's smile widened a bit. "Good. I love you too, you swamp rat." She pulled away again, then grabbed up her towel and jeans, flashing another smile to her Cajun. "Ah'll meet ya out front in 15 for that bike ride." She winked, then headed off for the house, leaving Gambit grinning after her.

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A/N: (1) Two actual nicknames of Rogue's from the X-men comics, earned by her sassy, zero "BS" tolerence, over-all easy-going, happy personality. Of course, she's also the most emotional of the women, but oh well...have powers like hers and you're bound to be. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! My muse SHOULD be working for me again soon, as its been threatened, and has some deadlines to keep! Hehehe...


	2. TROUBLE

Twisted  
Chapter 2, "T-R-O-U-B-L-E"  
By: RogueBHS

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A/N: Sorry about the delays in getting a new chapter up here, but a lot has been going on. First I was trying to graduate from HS, and succeeded. Then there was the usual no muse, probably from a lack of reading other fan fics there for a while. To top it all off, then my mom got sick and had to be put in the hospital for nearly 2 weeks, and afterwards I was basically doing most of the stuff around the house; cooking, cleaning, etc. Not fun. But either way I hope this chapter is good enough to make up for the delays. Oh, and btw, I do get a little eh...basic at a few points here, and go into a description of the powers, as well as a certain new mutant's view on the X-men Evo team (the main, not the "kids" as I've dubbed them).

Just put up with it though...I plan on making this a LONG chapter. ;)

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_ Well, I play an old guitar from a nine till a half past one  
I'm just tryin' to make a livin' watchin' everybody else havin' fun  
Well, I don't miss much if it happens on a dance hall floor  
Mercy, look what just walked through that door_

Well, hello T-R-O-U-B-L-E  
Tell me what in the world  
You doin' A-L-O-N-E  
Yeah, say hey, good L double O-K-I-N-G  
Well, I smell T-R-O-U-B-L-E...  
Yeah

I was a little, bitty baby when my papa hit the skids  
Mama had a time tryin' to raise nine kids  
She told me not to stare cause it was impolite  
She did the best she could to try to raise me right  
Cause mama never told me 'bout nothin' like Y-O-U  
Bet your mama musta been another good lookin' honey, too

Yeah  
Hey, good L double O-K-I-N-G  
Well, I smell T-R-O-U-B-L-E...

Yeah  
Yeah

Well, you're a sweet talkin', sexy walkin', honky tonkin' baby  
The men are gonna love ya and the woman gonna hate ya  
Remindin' them of everythin' they're never gonna be  
May be the beginning of a world war three  
Cause the world ain't ready for nothing like Y-O-U  
I bet your mama musta been another good lookin' mama, too

Hey, say hey, good L double O-K-I-N-G  
Well, I smell T-R-O-U-B-L-E...

I said hey  
I said hey  
I said hey  
I said hey  
I said hey (Hey)

Oh, I smell T-R-O-U-B-L-E...  
Yeah

Whoo

**"T-R-O-U-B-L-E" by Travis Tritt**

A pair of light blue eyes watched the many moniters in front of them, keen interest in what they were viewing shown by the lips below that were curved in a slight but satisfied smile. With the click of a few keys, the pool camera's view was switched to the main screen. Now the pair of eyes watched as two teens played in the huge pool; splashing, dunking and all that. Their huge smiles seemed to reassure and amuse the person watchng, because a masculine chuckle resounded in the room.

Movement on the screen showing the front door was reason enough for that to be pulled onto the larger main moniter. The moniter showed a limo in the background and two people walking to the front door. The soft sound of a motor whirring followed the man's progress down a metal hall, and to a door that slid open when he pressed a button with an up arrow.

The elevator carried him up a few floors, and the exited on to smooth, deep red carpet. On his way to the front door, he passed the same two teens that had been playing in the pool. His smile to them was responded to with two other smiles, and two totally different voices saying "Hello, Professor," to which he only nodded. He continued past them, and then slowed down as he passed another teen, a pretty red-headed female who seemed rather upset over something.

Despite the fact tthat she had been asked what was wrong, she kept walking, telling the professor to "ask Scott." Frowning slightly, Professor Charles Xavier told her in no uncertain terms that she was to return to the livin room and wait for him. The newest of his students had just arrived, and all of his current students were to give her a proper welcome to the Institute. Now it was Jean Grey's turn to frown, and boy did she ever.

"But Professor...I already met her."

Xaiver raised an eyebrow, still frowning. Jean normally listened to Xavier's orders without any fuss, whether she agreed with him or not. So to say the least this open disagreement from her was a shock, and anything but welcome. But thankfully, he didn't have to say much. From the look on Jean's face, from the second that Xavier had raised his eyebrow, she had been seriously rethinking what she had just said to her mentor.

"I uh...I'm sorry Professor. Scott just was a bit rude over the fact that I was surprised when the new girl showed up today, and that ticked me off." Jean's expression was sheepish and guilty enough to have Xaiver sighing.

"Jean, we've been over this before. However, I have other things to see to right now, so we will speak about this later. Go back to the living room and try and round up the others would you? Don't let anyone leave till I get there. Understood?"

Jean nodded grimmly. "Yes, Professor."

Xavier watched her progress silently for a few moments, then moved quickly to the enterence hall where his newest student, Elizabeth Braddock, stood talking to Scott Summers. Scott seemed hypnotized by the purple-haired teen girl, much to Xavier's surprise and mild amusement. Rolling his motorized wheel chair forward, Professor Xavier cleared his throat to get the teen's attention.

Both teens jumped. Obviously Elizabeth hadn't been lying about needing to work on her telepathy if she hadn't sensed him coming. Smiling again, Xavier rolled a bit closer to the two, and looked directly at Scott. "Thank you for keeping Miss Braddock occupied for the few moments it took me to get here, Scott." The sentence was definitely a form of dismissal, and Scott picked up on that quickly.

Reluctant though he was to leave, Scott knew better than to cause a scene, much less to argue with Xaiver. Nodding to the professor, he smiled a bit. "You're welcome, Professor." Turning back to Elizabeth, his smile widened. "I'll see you later I guess then. It was nice meeting you."

Elizabeth nodded in agreement, then let her own lips curve into a smile. "It was nice meeting you too Scott."

Since her smile seemed to make Scott want to stay right where he was, Xavier cleared his throat, earning him Scott's attention again. "Make sure all the others are in the living room, won't you?"

Scott nodded slowly, then moved away towards the living room, leaving Xavier to speak with Elizabeth. The two turned their full attention to each other, and Xavier extended a hand, then shook Elizabeth's before both let their hands drop back to their sides. "Welcome to the Xavier Institute, Miss Braddock."

Elizabeth smiled a bit wider. "Thank you, Professor Xavier."

"As I've already explained most of what your being here entails, I thought that I would introduce you to the others who live here..."

"That sounds fine, sir."

With the slightest of nods, Xavier turned his chair around, towards where Scott had headed only a few seconds before. "If you'll follow me then."

As they made their way down the short trek to the living room, the sound of many voices caught Elizabeth's attention. When she entered the living room, she was glad it wasn't her telepathy that had been picking up all those voices. There were many teens and "pre-teens" in the room, especially when compared to the fact that there were only four adults. The thing that didn't really surprise her though was that they seemed as different as their powers likely were.

Xavier rolled to a spot near a very pretty African-American woman with pure white hair, then motioned for Elizabeth to sit. So she did. When she was in the process of sitting, she realized that the room had gone extremely quiet. When Xavier spoke again, it didn't take much for Elizabeth to understand that he was one of the rare people who could keep a room quiet and in control without ever raising their voice. Something about Professor Xavier just radiated a power that commanded the respect of those around him. He reminded Elizabeth of her brother in that way.

"Well then, since we're all gathered here," a hint of pride crept into his voice when he said that, as if them being on time or together was a rarity. "Each of you," his light blue eyes glanced over the other teens and the 3 adults, "can give Elizabeth your names and powers in turn, but lets have Elizabeth start it." He turned those eyes to her again, obviously waiting for her to start.

Smiling a bit, she sat up straighter and looked around the room, surprised to see everyone's eyes on her. "Well...For starters you can call me Betsy if you want, instead of Elizabeth." There was just a hint of a British accent in her voice, and to Betsy's surprise, it made a girl sitting on the window seat narrow her eyes slightly. Deciding not to put too much thought into it right now, Betsy continued. "I'm a telepath, and a telekenetic too. I have to admit I'm a bit better at the telekenesis though." She paused for a moment, then remembered something. "Oh yeah...you can call me Psylocke too..." She blushed just a bit, expecting a laugh, but no one did. Feeling better about that, she just glanced at Xavier, as if to tell him she was done.

He got the message and turned to the red-headed girl that Elizabeth had met in the hallway briefly. The red-head smiled for the first time since the two girls had met, and then spoke. "I'm Jean. My powers are the same as yours I imagine, but I'm pretty good at the telepathy too. Telekenesis is my strong point though."

Scott nudged Jean with a smile. "She's good at both...she's just modest about it."

Jean blushed vividly, nodding briefly when a blue furry...thing with a German accent asked her if she was done. He turned his yellow eyes on Betsy, grinning, showing off a pair of fangs. "My name is Kurt, or Nightcrawler, and I'm a teleporter. I'm also very good at acrobatics."

A petite brunette piped up now, a bright smile curving her lips. Judging by her clothing, Betsy felt she couldn't be too far off in thinking the girl a preppy sort. "Hi! Like, my name's Kitty, or Shadowcat. I can walk through just about anything...walls, people; and I can like short out electrical systems if I phase through them."

Nodding, Elizabeth's eyes turned to the white haired woman that was sitting near Xavier. The woman's eyes were a startlingly bright blue, and held a sort of wisdom and calm that made them all the more amazing to look into. Lips curved into a kind smile, then the woman started to speak. "The students here tend to call me Ororo, but you may also call me Storm." Noticing the slightly puzzled look Betsy got when Ororo told her to call her Storm as well, Ororo smiled a bit brighter. "I control the natural forces in weather, as well as being able to sense the patterns of the weather. But my moods tend to influence the weather if I'm not careful...which is why most of the students here prefer to stay on my good side." At that last bit, Ororo gave Betsy a hint of a wink, then moved back up against the back of her seat, and looked across at the other blue furball in the room.

This furball however was much larger than the other. If anything he looked a bit like a big blue ape of a man, because his arms were longer than those of a man his height. When he smiled at her, like the other blue guy, he had a pair of fangs that might have been frightening if not for the fact that his eyes were too calm and too kind looking for him to be a true beast. When he spoke, his voice sounded like that of a person who's been well educated. "Well, I suppose its come to my turn then. You can call me Mr. McCoy, Hank, or Beast. I'll answer to any of those." He grinned a bit. "After all, what's in a name? As for my X-gene, its given me a good deal of superhuman agility, strength, and a bit of invunerability to physical attacks. That's not to say I can't be knocked out of course, but it enough to take the strain out of lifting all that weight. Our poor muscles can only take so much after all."

Elizabeth nodded slowly, surprised, then nearly jumped out of her seat as a quiet, but gruff voice spoke up. "Call me Logan or Wolverine, Bets. I ain't picky." Betsy was surprised at the nickname too, and finally located the one speaking standing in a corner of the room, mostly hidden by shadow. He wasn't tall, but he wasn't exactly short either. His build was that of a weight-lifter, and he didn't seem to dress to impress. If anything, he looked wild, especially with that untamed black hair. Blue eyes had lines spreading from the outside corner, and looked old, but wise. One look was all it took for Elizabeth to realize that he wasn't one to mess with.

"I've got advanced healin', claws and animal senses fer powers." He glanced at the older teens with something akin to a smirk. "But these other kids still think they can sneak out at night without me realizin' it." He let out a snort at the end of that, earning him a sheepish look from one or two of the teens. Seemingly satisfied, he looked to the boy sitting on the window seat next to a girl, and raised an eyebrow. "Your turn, Cajun."

The Cajun stretched out on the seat, basking in the late evening sun that was filtering through the window before he even turned his eyes to look at Elizabeth. Those eyes, framed by chesnut hair that fell to the boy's chin, were seemingly black at first. But then twin points of fiery red were noticable in the shadows caused by his hair. *Demon eyes...* was Elizabeth's first thought, but something about the rest of his face made her throw that idea away. He seemed older than the rest, but younger too. Confused by that, Betsy settled for just listening to him when he started to speak.

"Je m'appelle Remy, ma chere. Remy LeBeau. But you c'n call me Gambit." He grinned at her; it was a cocky, but lazy grin that was obviously made to make women or girls melt. "I c'n make t'ings go *boom*, or jus' warm 'em up a lil. Depends on the situation o' course. De bigger de t'ing, de longer it take for my powers t' work." The girl sitting next to him nudged him a little, and after flashing his grin at her, he turned back to Elizabeth. "I also c'n sense feelin's...sorta. I c'n tell if someone be angry, sad, or happy; de stronger de emotion, the easier it is fo' me t' pick up on it. Sorta attached t' dat is de fact dat I c'n sense where t'ings are in relation t' me."

Nodding again, Betsy now turned her attention to the girl sitting next to the Cajun boy. Something about her green/gray eyes made Betsy wonder if she'd be able to get this girl to trust her at all. Not wanting to think like that, not until it was proven anyway, Betsy settled for taking in the rest of the girl's appearance. Compared to Jean and Kitty, this girl was better curved, and taller too, despite the fact that she was slouching a bit right now. Her hair hung somewhere between shoulder and chin length, but what made it unusual was the fact that while a good deal of it was auburn brown, about two inches worth of hair in the front, namely her bangs, were as white as Ororo's hair.

"Mah name's Rogue. An' yes, that's mah real name." The girl added when Betsy looked surprised. "Lahke you, Jean an' th' professah, Ah c'n read a person's thoughts...but Ah do it different than jus' pokin' 'round in someone's head. When Ah touch a person Ah absorb 'em; thoughts, memories, feelin's, their entire bein' really, right down to their powahs if they're a mutant. Only thin' I don't absorb is the phyiscal attributes...normally."

Rogue stopped there, having noticed when the professor cleared his throat. Turning her head to face him, Elizabeth seemed surprised at how sober his facial expression was. "I must inform you, Elizabeth, that a few months ago, some of these students, Rogue included, were kidnapped as it were by a scientist. He and his team of other scientists and medical experts expierimented on them. The end result has left Rogue with four other powers, as they forced her to absorb one other mutant; a young girl."

Shocked, Elizabeth flashed a brief look of sympathy in Rogue's direction, a look that only had the other girl frowning and looking away. Turning her attention back to the professor, Elizabeth waited for him to continue.

"Because of that absorbption, Rogue now has the powers of flight unaided, super strength, a much higher degree of invunerability than Hank, as well as some sort of sense that alerts her to immeadiate danger to her person."

Amazed, she looked over at Rogue again, but said nothing, noticing the way the girl was curled up to Remy, obviously not enjoying the subject of how she had come by her other powers. Turning back to the professor, Elizabeth nodded again, more grimmly this time. She noticed him look to Rogue and Remy, sigh, then clear his throat. "Rogue, Gambit, you can leave if you wish."

That was all the invite the two Southerners needed, for they left, quietly and quickly. Xavier watched them leave, then, with a hint of a smile, he turned his attention to Betsy again. "Well, Psylocke, welcome to the X-men."


End file.
